Allentown official peddles support for bike lanes on Linden and Turner streets

About 75 people turned out for last night's public meeting on Allentown's proposal to add bicycle lanes on Linden and Turner streets in the city, thereby reducing the available motor-vehicle travel lanes on each of these one-way streets from two to one.

I thought it was a good turnout, considering there wasn't a whole lot of publicity for the event, and the fact that it was snowing and cold, a rarity in the midst of our exceptionally mild winter. The bike-lane proposal is one component of the Connecting Our Communities master plan, details of which are available at the city's Web site.

The substantial changes envisioned for Linden and Turner quite naturally have generated some controversy, though not necessarily along the usual biker-vs.-motorist lines. In fact, many cycling advocates oppose the plan, contending that shared-road markings ("sharrows") painted on the road surface are safer than, and preferable to, painted bike lanes. (Bike lanes separated by physical barriers are sure-fire safety winners, but they're also expensive and therefore relatively rare.) Sharrows are meant to reiterate the fact that state law grants "pedalcycles," as the law calls them, equal access to public streets.

In addition to the pro-sharrows bikers, many people with homes or businesses on the affected streets oppose the plan, warning of nightmarish traffic jams, particularly after the hockey arena being built downtown opens and starts generating even more traffic.

However, in a show of hands on the proposal last night at the Allentown Public Library, the pro-bike-lane group appeared to outnumber opponents by a wide margin, perhaps 2 to 1. On the other hand, when officials asked the bike-lane supporters to raise their hands if they reside on Linden or Turner, none did so, at least not that I saw.

Consulting engineers from the New York City firm Sam Schwartz Engineering contend that the two roads have more than enough capacity to handle the anticipated traffic volumes, at least at most intersections, and for all but an hour or so each day. They predict that 15th and Linden would be the worst-performing intersection, but propose measures to divert traffic away from there.

"I am the person behind Connecting Our Communities," said city Parks and Recreation Director Greg Weitzel, as if to confirm the sense among some opponents that he is pedaling the plan pretty much single-handedly, fueled at least in part by political ambition.

Weitzel says he endorses the plan as a means of improving the community in many ways, including boosting physical activity and thus the health of residents, linking the city's parks to improve the public's enjoyment of them, and bringing diverse city neighborhoods figuratively closer together. I know of no reason to doubt his sincerity, and by the way, there's nothing inherently wrong with political ambition.

"This is a concept; this is not a done deal," Weitzel added last night, though later he recommended that citizens on both sides of the issue get their comments to him within about a month. He doesn't seem to want to let any grass grow under his bicycle tires.

The next steps are for Mayor Ed Pawlowski, and ultimately City Council, to determine whether the proposal will wheel ahead, or be derailed. Keep an eye out for council meetings in which the plan comes up for consideration.

Current Comments

The "separated" bike lanes proposed by Greg Weitzel are only separated from traffic between intersections.

Obviously, at intersections cars turning left and right will cross the bike lanes as will cross traffic from the intersecting streets. That is only one of the many reasons why bike lanes are very dangerous on downtown streets such as Linden and Turner Streets.

The Allentown Public Works Department, the Allentown Police Traffic Department, the PennDOT Bike/Ped Coordinator and every expert cyclist in the region are against this plan for bike lanes along Linden and Turner Streets in Allentown.

Dan, there already are "bike lanes" on each of these roadways...they're called sidewalks. Which is where they belong...at least that's what they taught me when I was a kid.

State law or not, if someone wants to risk their life even being on either of those streets with a bike or not, that's their problem.

The best money spent in this city would be used to decongest, rather than congest.

If the state's willing to shell out zillions to appease the peddle pushers, then so be it. Until then, they have the right to use the sidewalk. If for some reason this screwed up town has changed that, then here's a good reason to enact the older laws again.

Posted By: Allentonian | Feb 13, 2012 11:44:56 AM

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about this blog

Morning Call Reporter and Columnist Dan Hartzell is The Road Warrior, defending the drivers of the Lehigh Valley and the roads on which they drive. E-mail questions about transportation in the Lehigh Valley and beyond to hartzell@mcall.com.